I guess I got a little excited because here is the third chapter.

I do not own DEH or its characters. I am simply a die-hard fan.

WARNING: description of injuries and some dark thoughts

Again, I'm not really sure if these warnings are necessary. So, just incase it's more triggering than I believe it to be, please READ WITH CAUTION. I don't want anything bad happening to someone because of what I write.

Reviews are always welcome (good and bad alike). If you have any good ideas for stories or just random headcanons you want to see, please feel free to contact me:) I only ask, try to stay away from romantic requests...I am not very good at writing romance, LOL!

Anyway, enjoy!


Heidi was back at the hospital at seven a.m. the next morning. She had skipped class and was going to tell her boss that she was going to have to take a few days off. There was no way she could stand to be working in the same hospital as her unconscious son and not be able to go see him. She would be so close, yet so far. It would be the cruelest of tortures. Depriving a mother of her ability to take care of her son. Cruel.

When she had gone home, Heidi did a thorough search of Evan's room. She wanted to find out everything that had been going on. She wanted to be able to understand why Evan had done what he had done. Heidi was pawing through Evan's night stand when she found his phone. She knew he hadn't had it on him. It hadn't been in the bag of his belongings. She turned the phone over in her hand. The screen came on. He had three missed calls and a voicemail from Jared.

Jared!

Heidi sighed, remembering that she had been wanting to call Jared and talk to him about what happened. He and Evan may have been in a fight, but Jared has always been Evan's closest friend. She didn't need a passcode to unlock Evan's phone. She supposed he had unlocked it for her. He was always thinking of how to make things easier for her rather than himself. Heidi wiped a stray tear from her cheek, clicked on the voicemail, and put the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Evan. It's Jared. I wanted to tell you that I need to talk to you. And I don't care if you don't want to talk to me anymore. I've made up my mind. I need you as my friend. Because you're my—you're my only friend. And I don't think I can handle losing you. So, please, call me back. Oh. I almost forgot. Happy birthday Evan."

Once the voicemail was over, Heidi glanced at the timestamp. 5:23pm. That was ten minutes after Heidi had found the note. Who knows how long it had been since Evan had left it. All she knew was that they had gotten to him in time.

Heidi pulled out her own phone and scrolled to Jared's contact info. She pulled up his phone number and called him.

Ring.

I'm doing the right thing.

Ring.

He deserves to know.

Ring.

After all, they're best friends.

"Mrs. Hansen?"

Heidi smiled sadly. "Hello, Jared."

"I've been trying to call Evan. Is he there?"

Heidi felt her throat clinch slightly. "Evan is actually the reason I called you. There was an accident."

"Accident? What kind of an accident?" Jared's voice was growing more and more frantic.

"He's in the hospital. Jared, he jumped out of a tree."

"What? I have to see him."

"I'll meet you at the hospital."

Heidi and Jared hung up the phone. Heidi grabbed Evan's phone and her purse and went back to the hospital.


Jared sat in his car, unable to drive off. Everything was rolling back through his mind.

You fell out of a tree? What are you, like, an acorn?

Maybe Evan had not fallen…maybe Evan had…

Jared shook his head to clear his thoughts. He put his car in Drive and started toward the hospital.

The ambulance yesterday.

Had it been carrying Evan?

Had he missed Evan by only a little bit?

Jared slammed his hand down on his steering wheel. Had he only gotten over his stubbornness a day later, this would have never happened. Evan wouldn't be in the hospital fighting for the life he wanted so badly to end.

Jumped.

Evan had jumped.

He hadn't fallen.

Evan tried to kill himself.

Jared gasped as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Evan needed the Connor Project because he knew how Connor felt. Sure, Connor was successful in his attempt, but Evan had still tried. And all those times that Jared had called Connor crazy or a psychopath. That whole time, Evan had always compared himself to Connor. He only ever really saw how similar the two were. That's why he helped start the Connor Project. Well, at least maybe that was one of the reasons. Maybe Jared was reading this whole thing the wrong way. Maybe he was just trying to make some sense out of something that would never make sense to him.

Jared was plenty smart. But some things…they just went straight over his head. Not that he wasn't aware of potentially harmful comments, or that he wasn't in control of his actions. Actually, that made it a million times worse. He knew what he was doing. He just hadn't really cared.

It had all started with that stupid comment about Connor of the first day of senior year.

"Hey Connor. Loving the new hair length. Very school-shooter-chic."

"You're such a freak."

And his insensitivity with the buttons.

"Pretty soon there will be some third-world tsunami to raise money for, and Connor will just be that dead kid whose name no one remembers."

He had played it off like Connor's suicide was something to use to his own benefit.

And that's exactly what he had accused Evan of doing.

Maybe, to Evan, it did seem like he was doing it to help the Murphy's. Maybe Evan had no idea that it seemed like what he was doing was selfish. After all. It didn't seem like he knew much about friendships. Considering some of the lies he told made it seem like he and Connor were together rather than friends. But, who can blame him? Jared wasn't the best example for a friend, and he knew it. Of course Evan pictured it differently.

And now Evan was in the hospital.

Jared had no idea how bad his injuries were. Last time, it was just a broken arm. Who knows what had happened this time. If the ambulance from yesterday was the one Evan was on, that would mean that Evan had been in the hospital all night. So, chances are that the injuries were much, much worse.

Jared quickly put the car in drive and pulled out of his drive way. He needed to now how bad Evan's injuries were. He had to know if Evan was okay.


Heidi stared at the clock on the wall. The doctor had only talked to her ten minutes ago, but it felt like it had been forever. He was in recovery now, but they weren't sure of anything definite. He had broken his skull—that much they knew for sure. As for the paralysis the doctor had mentioned earlier, they wouldn't be sure until he woke up. It could be days before Evan would be able to wake up. But that doesn't mean anything to a terrified mother. Heidi just wanted to know that he'd be okay. She just wanted that much. A doctor's guarantee. Maybe then she could rest.

She glanced down at her phone. It had been almost twelve hours since she had called James. He wasn't responding, and it was getting frustrating. She clicked on his contact again and put the phone to her ear.

Ring.

He's his father. He should be here.

Ring.

He should know what's going on.

Ring.

Evan could die.

Ring.

James would want to say good-bye if it came to that. Right?

"I'm sorry. The number you—" Heidi rolled her eyes and let the voice go through its spiel.

Beep.

"James, I don't know what you're doing right now, but this is important. It's not about me or you. It's about our son. Like it or not, he is your son—your first son. He needs you right now. So, step up and take responsibility. I've let you coast by for the last eleven years. Well, that stops now. So, call me back or so help me…" Heidi sighed. "Look. Would I really be calling you if it weren't completely urgent? Just call me back. Please, James." Heidi hung up the phone, staring at the screen.

"Mrs. Hansen."

Heidi looked up and saw Jared walking toward her. "Jared. I'm so glad you're here."

"What happened? You said he jumped out of a tree?"

Heidi could easily tell there was real concern and fright in the boy's voice. "Sit down." Jared did. "I'm not positive myself what happened. Evan had left a note on his bed. I just assumed he would choose to try in the same place as last time."

"So, he really—he tried to…" Jared couldn't finish the sentence.

Heidi couldn't either. She just nodded.

Jared thought back to the bonsai tree. "I was going to give him a present. I wanted to tell him that I'm sorry. I couldn't come up with a better day to do so than his birthday. 'Happy birthday, Evan. Here's your best friend back and a bonsai tree!'" Jared sighed. "I've been a terrible friend."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"I've been ignoring him because of that stupid Connor Project."

Heidi shifted slightly in her seat. "Evan never told me why you two stopped being friends."

"It's not a long story. I assume you know that the whole Connor-Evan friendship was a scam, right?" Heidi nodded. "I was the one who wrote the emails. At least the ones at the very beginning. Eventually, they stopped including me."

"They?"

"Evan and Alana."

"Right. I almost had forgotten about her." Heidi sighed. "So, then what happened?"

"I told Evan that I could reveal everything and tell everyone the truth." Jared looked down at his hands. "Then he did the same to me. So, I stopped talking to him." Jared took a deep breath, feeling the regret place a firm hold on his lungs. "He called me a few times earlier this week, and I just ignored him. I was still so angry. I could have stopped all of this if I had just answered the phone."

Heidi said nothing. She had not realized they hadn't spoken since before the Connor Project ended. And according to Jared, the two hadn't spoke with each other since. So, why did Evan lie and say the two boys had been hanging out while she was at work or class? What had he really been doing during that time?

"I should have given him his tree earlier."

Heidi found the perfect chance to change the subject. "Did Evan ever tell you why he was so obsessed with trees?"

"No."

"He was seven, and we went to one of the national parks…"

Heidi told Jared the story of how Evan had fallen in love with the trees one autumn, when the leaves were just starting to turn. It had been beautiful. That year, he had spent every bit of free time researching and collecting different samples from different types of trees. His collection had gotten so expansive, that he had no room to keep all his books and samples in his book shelves anymore. Evan had cried when he had to throw away his leaves and woods. The collection had been the first thing that had made him smile after his father left. Heidi had let him keep one sample. He had kept one of the leaves from that first autumn at the national park.

"It's sitting in his room still, as far as I know."

Jared smiled sadly. He hadn't known that. He really didn't know anything about Evan. Just that he has social anxiety and has never had a true friend in his life—someone that wanted absolutely nothing from him. The fact that trees had once been his coping mechanism…

Jared had spent so much time ridiculing and belittling Evan's "forest expertise."

"You'll be obsessed with all my forest expertise."

"Absolutely not." Jared had said.

He felt terrible. "I didn't know. I didn't know any of that."

Heidi gave Jared a small smile. "Evan's never been one to share what's going on in his mind. He's always seemed more introverted."

"Heidi?" a new voice cut off the conversation.

Heidi and Jared both looked up at the approaching doctor. It was the same one from the day before. Heidi smiled. "Hi, Jeff. Any news?"

"Well, Evan is being moved from recovery, but he is still unconscious. Because of his injuries, we placed him in a medically induced coma. This should help his body recuperate faster. He'll most likely wake up in a week or so, and we can inspect all of the injuries then."

"Is there anything you can tell us now?"

"Evan has a depressive skull fracture. When he hit the ground, his head hit a rock, and parts of the skull broke inward towards the occipital lobe. This isn't necessarily life threatening on its own, but some of the potential injuries could be fatal. There is a possibility he may not be able to recognize familiar things, like your house or his car. The most danger could come from possible meningitis. Meningitis is very common with this type of skull fracture. As for Evan's back, there are some injured spinal nerves, but it doesn't look like any paralysis caused by the injured nerves will be permanent. However, we won't know that until he wakes up."

Heidi felt like her head was going to explode. Some of the words the doctor used floated around in her head.

Life threatening.

Fatal.

Danger.

Paralysis.

She rubbed her temple.

"Heidi? Do you have any questions?"

"Can I see him?"

The doctor nodded and led Heidi down the hallway. Jared stayed in the waiting room, knowing Heidi would want to be by herself for this part. The room got closer and closer. It was room 218. Heidi sighed. She had almost forgotten that Evan had turned eighteen yesterday.

The doctor opened the door. Heidi had tried to prepare herself for this moment, but suddenly, it was as if she had just learned of Evan's attempt. She stood there, her lungs seemingly deflating, and it felt as though she would never breathe again. Tears started to fall down her cheeks as she walked to Evan's bedside. She reached out her hand and stroked his cheek gently. He was so peaceful. It almost looked as if he was dead.

She wanted to wake him up. To get some sort of proof that he was actually alive. But, then he would be in pain. It would take longer for him to heal. She didn't want that. He was her little boy—her baby. She didn't want him to be in any pain. She hadn't wanted any of this for him. She had only wanted him to be happy and healthy.

Heidi understood why the Murphy's were so adamant in believing Evan's lies about Connor. They must have felt so desperate to believe their son wasn't as…lonely as he actually was. Any good memory made it easier.

Heidi was drawn from her thoughts by her ringtone. She took her phone from her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. It was James. She quickly answered the phone. "James?"

"Hello, Heidi."


I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry I ended on another James cliffhanger. It's just such an easy hook. Is he gonna step up and be a dad? Who knows! I say that because I haven't started chapter four yet. I had just gotten a major brainstorm. It's totally passed now, so there won't be a second surprise where I post the fourth chapter. I'll get it up as soon as possible though.

Don't forget to review!

Until next time,

Sincerely,

Me

(Always34)